Chapter XI: The Ghost Appears
"No one could help me," Shego said as she turned away from him. How could anyone help her?
"Anyone could," said the man calmly. "If you just let them."
"Then I don't want you to help me," Shego growled and hugged her legs, resting her head on her knees.
"Then we have a problem," said the man as he watched her with interest. "I have taken it upon myself to help you whether you wanted it or not." Shego blinked at his statement.
"Excuse me?" she looked at him as if he was crazy. And if she judged him by his clothing, he might be. "What gave you the right to butt-in in my business?" Shego nearly cringed. Her tone had less of the venom she had before her bout of guilt.
"Since you put it that way, I have taken it upon myself to be your guardian," he said as if stating a fact. Annoyed, Shego turned her whole body to face him.
"What else did you "Take upon yourself" to do?" she sneered. Strangely, the man smirked as if he found her amusing. Much to her annoyance, he actually laughed.
"My dear Lady, surely someone such as yourself would need assistance one time or another," he smiled. He actually smiled! Shego was about to fry him to a crisp when she noticed that his smile was not of mockery but of genuine affection. She was taken back at this. This man, who she had only met, was giving her warmth and hope. Something she didn't have for a long time.
But was this genuine or some sort of prank?
"For your information I get along fine by myself," she huffed. "And I'm not your dear anything."
"I hate the 20th century," he mumbled as he shook his head. "Chivalry is dead."
On life support maybe, but not dead.
"And about to be unplugged," the man looked once again at Shego and sighed. "So, instead for asking for help, you wish to take your own life?" he asked instead. "By stabbing you heart?"
"Though I doubt it's there, is there a problem with that?" Shego stood, placing her hands on her hips, trying to intimidate the man. But instead of being intimidated, he looked away.
"There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, it would be a pity to lose yours," he said though she was sure he was embarrassed to say so. Looking down, Shego saw that her shapely figure had subtly revealed itself behind the soft chemise that she had borrowed from the Possibles. Smiling in amusement, she took a bathrobe and wore it. So, the man couldn't be intimidated but he could be embarrassed. How interesting.
"And how did you know these things are real?" she asked rather teasingly. But when she turned around she noticed that he had lowered the brim of his hat so that his eyes were covered. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
"It is not the cat but something that would concern all of us," he said mysteriously. Suddenly, Shego heard the tone of the Kimmunicator. The man sighed and held Kim's device in his hand and pressed the call button. He held it by his ear and after a moment, turned it off.
"What is it?" Shego asked out of curiosity.
"Despite Mr. Load's best efforts, there are people outside who wants to have a word with you," Shego smiled sadly as she heard him.
"Global Justice?" he nodded. Shego merely took a deep breath and walked towards the exit.
"STOP!" the man said in an unearthly voice that she just had to obey. The man took a calming breath and smiled at her. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To surrender," Shego said as if it was the most natural thing to do. The man shook his head and walked towards her.
"In your guilt, you wish to surrender?" he asked and she nodded. "Then do so in your friends' terms."
"Friends?" she asked as if the word was foreign to her.
"Come now, you've heard of the concept."
"They're idiots," Shego growled as she faced him.
"They must be since they harbored a known felon in their home. I believe it was Stoppable who took you in."
You were the one who got her in this predicament, but the man ignored the voice.
"It would be much better for everyone if I just go quietly," Shego argued but was weakening. A while ago she was determined to take her life, then she was determined to surrender peacefully, was her determination that weak?
"Would it?" he asked. "It would be hard to redeem yourself if you're behind bars. Harder if you gave up."
"Have you done anything to redeem yourself?" Shego asked as she slowly slumped on the floor. "You talked about redemption as if you wished for it."
"I'm trying," he said. "But everyone had the right to try. You'll only fail if you give up."
"I'll think about it," Shego said as she prepared to stand but the man just touched her shoulder in a compassionate squeeze.
"When you do, tell your friends your decision. Tell them when you're with them, free, not from behind bars," the man said and walked down the stairs of Kim's room. Shego looked at his retreating back, bewildered that he had talked her into staying with Kim.
"Who are you again?" she asked wonderingly.
"Brighton," he said giving her a careless wave. Shego merely smirked and followed him, curious as what he would do.
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"What made you think she's here, Agent Du?" Kim Possible asked as she faced the GJ agent. At the moment, there were dozens of GJ agents and vehicles surrounding her home. It was like her house was one of the villainous hideouts she always entered.
The sun was about to set and the red light made the GJ vehicles more menacing than before.
"Don't start, Miss Possible," Agent Du saidwith a smirk. "You're no match for Global Justice's Intelligence Department. The criminal known as Shego is hiding, or rather you have hidden Shego at your home. Which I've come to expect from a second rate wannabe crime fighter as yourself." It took everything Kim had not to strike back. If she hit him now, she had given him provocation to search her house and find Shego.
"Harboring a criminal is a capital offense, Miss Possible," Agent Du said with a sneer.
"Is being an asshole a criminal offense as well?" Felix said as he rolled beside Kim, staring at the man in front of him. But Agent Du ignored him adding to Felix's ire.
"You have ten seconds to move, Miss Possible or I'll place you under arrest," Du said but Kim didn't budge, neither did Felix.
"Is everything alright, Kim?" Tara asked as she came out of the house. Bonnie, worried about her friends, followed Tara out. Only Monique stayed behind, watching behind the curtains.
"Everything's just fine," Kim said. "These nice people were about to leave."
"Now see here, Miss Possibleā¦" Agent Du began but was cut off by Bonnie.
"What the hell's going on?" Bonnie practically shouted as she crossed her arms. "Has Global Justice become too conceited that it could do whatever it wants to local citizens? Has all that power corrupted the very foundation that GJ was built on? So, is this how it goes, Global Justice is supreme and tell everyone to just go fuck themselves?" Felix was having a hard time keeping composed while Kim, knowing fully well how Bonnie's tongue worked was glad that she was not at the receiving end.
Agent Du frowned and was about to answer back when a man dressed in a tan suit wearing an old confederate type hat interrupted them.
"I do beg your pardon but could you keep it down? This is a residential area and the folks are getting a bit gittery with all these⦠show of manliness?.. about."
"Who the hell are you?" Agent Du asked, reaching the limit of his patience.
"An apt question," the gentleman smiled cryptically. "Do you really wish me to answer that?" The teenagers looked at the man in confusion and curiosity. Who was he?
Agent Du growled and faced Kim instead. "I'm warning you Miss Possible. This is your last chance."
"Even if your allegations are true, I won't give her to a butt-kissing whiny asshole like you," she said and didn't see Agent Du's hand fly towards her face.
To the surprise of all, it never touched her. The gentleman caught Agent Du's wrist before his hand touched her. As the visage of the sun faded, the whole Middleton was covered in darkness.
"It is ungentlemanly to strike a lady," the man said. Tara gasped as she saw the man's right cheek burning. Kim saw it too and was frozen on the spot. "Mr. Fenton, kindly escort the ladies inside. It is dangerous to be out at night. Agent Du suddenly screamed. His wrist was on fire and he was struggling to get free. Seeing this, Felix urged the bewildered ladies into the house. Immediately, everyone was looking through the window.
Shego gasped as she saw the flames. It was the same flames that she saw last night. The Flames of Hell. Will Du felt the man's eyes on him as if he was judging him. His eyes bore into his soul. And what the man said next sent ice into his spine.
"Guilty"
The man suddenly struck Agent Du, sending him flying towards one of the armored trucks that accompanied him. Struggling to get up and struck with fear, Will Du gave the order to fire.
Shego saw that every agent aimed their weapons on the man and fired. The Possible's front lawn was engulfed in flames from the rockets the helijets made. Kim and the others were stunned. No one could have survived that. As the smoke cleared, they saw the man that help Kim in flames.
But Tara was the first to see clearly. The man was in flames but he was standing tall. All could see the burning skull the man had.
Dressed in biker leather, adorned with spikes and chains a very angry spirit faced the ones who attacked it.
"All of you are guilty," it said. "In one way or another."
Shego took a deep breath and stood there, watching. This was the one who saved her life and made her realize her sins. The man who helped her decide to trust her new found friends. Tara saw Shego with the same look of shocked surprise she had earlier. Even Monique had a small smile when she saw the flaming entity. Everyone in the house was touched by the Rider in one way or another.
"The Ghost Rider," Kim said in awe. Somehow, she could feel the sorrow and the pain the Rider had as if it was part of her. The questions had to wait, for now, all they could do was watch.
The Rider looked at Agent Du, two red orb glowing from his eye sockets as he watched the man cower behind one of the tanks.
"What was that saying you people use these days?" the Rider asked as the flames within him intensified. "Ah, I remember."
"Vengeance's a bitch, isn't it?"
That's payback.
The Ghost Rider simply growled and looked only at Will Du.
"You," he said. "Guilty."
All Will Du could do is ruin his pants.
